Top U.S. CEOS: Stakeholders over Shareholders

The CEOs of nearly 200 companies just said shareholder value is no longer their main objective

The book "Work the Future! Today: A faster path to purpose, passion and profit" predicted this in 2017.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/19/the-ceos-of-nearly-two-hundred-companies-say-shareholder-value-is-no-longer-their-main-objective.html

Main Points

The Business Roundtable, a group of chief executive officers of nearly 200 major U.S. corporations, issues a statement with a new definition of the “purpose of a corporation.”
The reimagined idea of a corporation drops the age-old notion that they function first and foremost to serve their shareholders and maximize profits.
Investing in stakeholders—employees, delivering value to customers, dealing ethically with suppliers and supporting outside communities—are now at the forefront of American business goals.
This is the first step from the old bottom triple bottom line of profit, people, planet to planet, people, prosperity. Why? No planet, no people, nothing. And companies that don't stay relevant, die.

PURPOSE + PLACE: Bringing shared purpose to life and putting it to work

Purpose is like oxygen for the soul; place is like oxygen for the workforce—they both work as a North Star. As people and professionals, our sole purpose is to provide an outlet for the soul through finding and then following a purposeful path to healthy profits, yes, but also to a healthy planet and the wellbeing of people — for prosperity. Purposeful work is a common social activity that gives us meaning, without which we are lost.

This blog outlines our look at the relationships among purpose, culture, brand and workplace design. Places are physical, places are social; a topic we will take up in detail later. As space is to house, place is to home. The workplace is the home of our individual and collective geospatial and emotional resources that we put to work and to make a difference. But for now we will focus on purpose.

Brand New PurposeMay 3, 2019Comment

DESIGNING THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE: Mind Full, or Mindful?

Inside Job

Mindfulness as well as wellness, which go hand in hand, are two of the current buzz words being used these days in everything from corporate slogans to phone apps. We are all trying to achieve the best we can by being more aware. Our interior spaces, the places where we humans spend most of our time need to do the same. Wellness should be thought of as the process and mindfulness as the action; particularly in the area of interior design.

Our interiors usually reflect our personality. Our homes are filled with what makes us comfortable. Our work spaces maybe not so much; but that is changing. As more people see what they do as an occupation as an extension of who they truly are, our office or work spaces need to do the same. Creating spaces that are designed for mindfulness will ultimately be designed for our well being.

brand, culture, wellness, workplaceBrand New PurposeMarch 27, 2019workplace, future of work, place, design, mindfulness, wellness, wellbeingComment

Are You About to be “Algo’d”—replaced by an algorithm? Part 1.

Algo’d (verb) al· go.d | \ ˈal-gə-ˌdid

Definition of Algo’d

1: a procedure for converting a human activity (i.e. work) to an automated process that can be performed by some type of computer-driven equipment or device guided in its operation by mathematical algorithms

2: solving an operational task in a finite number of steps that frequently involves repetition of an operation

3: a step-by-step procedure for performing a task to accomplishing some end

Yeah, Says Who?

One of the major trends, blending demographic changes with technology advances, is the onward march towards greater automation in our economy. That’s a fancy way of saying, “The robots are coming.” And they are not just that warm, fuzzy image we have of R2D2.

Brand Transformation for Relevance—And How To Do It

For the past 20 years, we’ve worked with a wide range of companies and organizations all over the world, including a number of Fortune 20 companies. We’ve noticed a growing sense of dissatisfaction, and the desire of both leaders and employees at all levels to find greater meaning and impact in their work. As we begin 2019, this widespread hunger for a new sense of fulfillment in our work and the need for transformation to meet the challenges that constant change bring is more prevalent than ever. With this in mind, we offer a step-by-step path to filling this void with a new sense of shared purpose and value.

The purpose of transformation

Old into new: In 2019, we need to transition more than ever from the Old Story of Profit First to the New Story of Purpose, which is made possible by a three-part path, which we call Working The Future! Today:

Purpose: Why?—your destiny.
Place: Who?—your destination.
Practice: How?—your journey.

innovation, brand, transformationBrand New PurposeFebruary 23, 2019brand, innovation, transformation, collaboration, relevance, sustainability, leadershipComment

NEEDED: A New “Global Purpose System”

Introducing “WORK THE FUTURE! TODAY” + new “WTF! 2019 POCKET PAL”

A leadership void now threatens the lives and livelihood of millions of people and their employers, on a global scale. Co-authors Whitney Vosburgh and Charlie Grantham have risen to the occasion and offer a new “GPS” (Global Purpose System) that responds to this challenge. They share their strategic vision for creating sustainable change in their two new “WORK THE FUTURE! TODAY” books.

In response to the growing realization that the “Profit First” model of doing business (our old “GPS”) is rapidly becoming obsolete, the authors provide readers with a systemic approach to work and the art of doing business in the 21st century. “WORK THE FUTURE! TODAY: Finding your path to purpose, passion and profit” and the accompanying workbook, “WORK THE FUTURE! TODAY 2019 POCKET PAL: A faster path to purpose, passion and profit” (WTF! Press — January 2019) are now available as guides for this journey forward. The books’ co-authors draw on their decades of leadership experience in consulting, academia, and research in the fields of marketing, organizational design, and R&D. Vosburgh and Grantham argue that the people, organizations and systems that are “the ablest” — capable of changing in this ever-changing world — are the ones that will survive and thrive. In addition, the co-authors emphasize, they must lead with purpose and value.

book, workplace, innovationBrand New PurposeJanuary 15, 2019future, purpose, passion, profit, prosperity, placeComment

LOVING LEADERSHIP: More Heart, Less Head

Being Your Own Leader in a Leaderless Era

Earth Day, 2018: The great thinker and liberator Nelson Mandela challenges us by asking:

“Who are we, not to shine?”

So in this blog and those to follow, we’re introducing a new, better and more effective way to be a leader, whether you’re leading 1, 10, or 10 million people.

“Who are we, not to shine?”

This is one of the most important questions for all of us today.

Why?

• Because most of our current global leadership is heartless—and their heads don’t seem to work very well, either.

• Because people, organizations, and entire countries are stuck in systems of ego-driven, expired thinking, and action that is jeopardizing our survival.

• Because schools teach memorizing information instead of critical thinking.

• Because so-called spiritual leaders are trying to co-opt, control, and commodify the Earth and the great mystery of which we’re all a part.

This is happening right now, and it’s been going on for millennia.

Leadership from 1984 to 2018: A Big Fat MESS! The way out?

Ignorance + Time = Extinction

The paradigm is the problem—a one-dimensional economic approach to human organization. Or put another way, the way we see the world, the beliefs we have about how it should operate, and the everyday things we do based on those beliefs doesn’t/don’t work to the benefit of a life affirming society.

Students of history—as opposed to herstory—can tell you that every couple thousand years or so of recorded history, along comes a new way of seeing things. A new set of beliefs that challenge the old. Well, it’s about that time.

Today we live in a world ruled by reptilian emotions, governed by medieval institutions, and driven by worship of the Technology God—supposed solver of all problems. Maybe, just maybe, we need a new Mohammed, a new Buddha, or even a new Jesus—and certainly a new, better definition and forward modeling of leadership.

Today we live in a world ruled by reptilian emotions, governed by medieval institutions, and driven by worship of the Technology God—supposed solver of all problems. The future bus is approaching. It is not going to turn around and go back to ‘making something great again’. That’s magical thinking as psychologists like to point out. You have a choice: Either take control of your future, or let it control you.

Want to find out how to get out of the MESS?

Whitney Vosburgh + Charlie GranthamMarch 13, 2018future, planning, leadership, sustainability, threatsComment

WTF! Blog

The CEOs of nearly 200 companies just said shareholder value is no longer their main objective

Yeah, Says Who?

The purpose of transformation

Introducing “WORK THE FUTURE! TODAY” + new “WTF! 2019 POCKET PAL”

Being Your Own Leader in a Leaderless Era

Why?

— WTF! —

Change, for the better.

WTF! Blog

The CEOs of nearly 200 companies just said shareholder value is no longer their main objective

Yeah, Says Who?

The purpose of transformation

Introducing “WORK THE FUTURE! TODAY” + new “WTF! 2019 POCKET PAL”

Being Your Own Leader in a Leaderless Era

Why?

— WTF! —